This invention relates to a simple but useful device for use in conjunction with building both commercial structures and residential structures. In such buildings it is common to suspend pipes from ceiling rafters. The pipes are normally used to convey hot or cold fluids. However, because condensation often forms on pipes due to the difference in ambient temperature and the temperature of the fluid conveyed within the pipe, such pipes are normally wrapped with a bat of insulation. The theory is that the insulation will prevent condensation caused by the drastic temperature change between ambient air and the fluid in the pipe. Thus, condensation can be avoided. It is, of course, necessary to avoid condensation and dripping which results from heavy condensation since this can cause damage to floors and ceilings. And so it is that in the normal operation, pipes designed for carrying liquids are typically enshrouded with a bat of insulation. The pipe is then hung in a conventional hanger saddle to hold it in its suspended position.
Problems arise because of this manner of suspension. In particular, the hanger saddle will normally hang from the rafters by means of a hanger or suspension strap which holds the pipe and bat of insulation assembly in its suspended position. However, in doing so, the weight bearing load of the pipe, and the fluid in the pipe, bears against the bat of insulation precisely at the point of suspension or hanging. This often can be a substantial weight load. As a result, the bat of insulation is often compressed, sometimes significantly damaged and opened to allow exposure to ambient air. This in turn allows condensation to form by reason of the fracture of the shroud of insulation. As a result hanger assemblies while needed also cause damage from time to time to the insulation and in effect defeat the very objective of the insulation.
There have been from time to time attempts to devise supports for use in conjunction with hanger saddles which would take the load bearing weight off of the insulation. However, those that have been devised in the past are expensive, cumbersome, difficult to insert, and usually have not been successful in accomplishing the objectives of satisfactory pipe support, avoidance of weight bearing load on the insulation, and at the same time being inexpensive and easy to install.
This invention has as its objective the fulfillment of the above-mentioned need. The means of accomplishing this and other objectives will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention which follows hereinafter.